The invention pertains to a snowboard binding of the type often referred to as "shell bindings" or "soft bindings," since they are designed to be used with relatively soft boots and have a high degree of flexibility, as is desired by so-called free-style skiers. Snowboards bindings in this field are shown in DE-GM 8,902,125.8 or DE-GM 9,113,766.7. These known bindings have a base element that is to be attached to the upper side of the snowboard and is normally fastened there by screws. An instep element is attached to the side walls extended laterally upward and consists in known bindings of one or more adjustable instep belts that reach over the front foot and the instep and thus pull the boot against the base plate. Moreover, these known bindings have a support or heel element attaches to the base plate so as to pivot and supports the rear side of the boot and simultaneously makes it possible to set a defined angle of inclination, which determines the so-called "forward lean" of the lower leg. In these known bindings, this heel element, which projects roughly 20-30 cm from the snowboard surface in normal skiing position, can be folded forward in the direction of the instep element so as to interfere less when transporting the snowboard. In both previously known bindings shown in DE-GM 8,902,125.8 or DE-GM 9,113,766.7, the angle of inclination of the instep element can be adjusted for the skiing position.
A similar snowboard binding, but with a stationary heel element, is also known from FR 2,697,097 A1 (FIG. 9).
In all these known snowboard bindings, the opening and closing of the binding is done only at the instep element, which makes getting into the binding particularly complicated. For DE-GM 9,113,766.7, for instance, two instep straps must be opened and kept unbuckled by hand, so that the boot can be inserted from above into the binding. Since the heel element normally defines a certain forward lean, the boot must then be pushed backwards in the direction of the heel element when it touches the base element, and then finally the instep buckles must be closed. At the same time, the binding must be readjusted after each new insertion, as is required for the rear binding after every lift trip, since the instep belts must always be completely opened and have no predefined closure position. In this process, the skier must bend backwards and thread the belt strap with his gloves into the closure buckles, which is not always possible with an iced-up binding. Viewed as a whole, therefore, these known bindings are quite cumbersome and uncomfortable to handle.